Pope Pius XII

Pope Pius XII (2 March 1876-9 October 1958), born Eugenio Pacelli, was Pope of the Catholic Church from 2 March 1939 to 9 October 1958, succeeding Pope Pius XI and preceding Pope John XXIII.

Biography
Eugenio Pacelli was born in Rome, Italy in 1876. Educated at the Gregorian University in Rome, he was ordained priest in 1899 and entered the papal diplomatic corps at the Secretariat of State in 1901. The Pope's representative (nuncio) in Munich in 1917, he becamme the papal nuncio to Germany from 1920 to 1930. During this time, he concluded an agreement between the Catholic Church and the state of Bavaria in 1924, and with Prussia in 1929. In 1930, he was appointed papal Secretary of State and created cardinal. He was responsible for a concordat between the Catholic Church and Nazi Germany in 1933, though subsequently he was reluctant to protest openly against Nazi violations of the agreement. During World War II, he remained strictly neutral, though he was particularly concerned to relieve distress, especially among prisoners. Nonetheless, he became heavily criticized for his refusal to defend the Jews against persecution, and his willingness to come to an agreement with Hitler while refusing any compromise with the communist governments of postwar Europe, mainly caused by his tacit preference for fascism over communism. He is also remembered for establishing the Assumption of the Virgin Mary as an infallible doctrine of the Catholic Church, on the basis of Church tradition rather than scriptural evidence. He died in 1958, and was succeeded by Pope John XXIII.